


Dreamer's Destiny (*Almost certainly abandoned*)

by LostinFiction



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Fantasy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-03-25
Updated: 2012-04-19
Packaged: 2017-11-02 12:57:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/369216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LostinFiction/pseuds/LostinFiction
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alternate Universe in which John, Jade, Rose and Dave's Earth/real-selves don't exist, but their dreamselves are the princes and princesses of Prospit and Derse, respectively, and are the subjects of a prophecy that's as old as the universe itself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Preface + 1. Just Another Birthday

**Author's Note:**

> (This first part isn't terribly exciting, but hopefully it will peak your interest for the next part, in which I'm planning to include plot. ^^)
> 
> (Good chance of me making minuscule edits now and then, nothing really noticeable, so I wont keep track of how many times i do it. So. Don't be surprised if you DO notice.)

Preface

 

It was cool and clear in the light kingdom of Prospit, as it always was, on the evening that the ancient prophecy had finally been set in motion. The White Queen had been in one of her sitting rooms in her overly extravagant home, deep in thought. She had been thinking about the White King again. They almost never saw each other, but she cared a great deal for him. Sadly, she had forced herself to accept that his place was the battle field, and hers was this castle. __

There was a knock on the door. The Queen straightened herself to look presentable.

“Who is it?” She asked, nobility ringing out in every word. One of the queen’s head advisers identified himself, and was given permission to enter. He apologized for his interruption.

            “Truly sorry, I am,” he was saying. “I just thought . . . her highness would like to know right away.” He said cryptically. He looked as if he was trying not to smile.

            “Know what?” Her eyes drifted to the doorway, where she noticed that a small servant girl was lingering just outside, standing between two large golden baskets.

            The advisor turned to the girl and motioned for her to come inside. She hurriedly picked up the baskets—the contents of which must have been heavy for her, for she seemed to struggle with them—and carried them into the room and set them before the queen.

            The White Queen looked inside the two baskets, and found herself face to face with two very small and very odd creatures wrapped in blankets as gold as everything in Prospit. The queen was, like all prospitains, almost completely white in color, except for their black eyes; their bodies liken to stone. The sleeping things in the baskets were more of a pinkish color, and soft. Where prospitains were hairless, these things each had a headful black hair. After a moment of being stared at, the little ones stirred and woke in unison. The boy had blue eyes, the girl had green.

            “I believe these are the two we have been waiting for.” The royal advisor said dramatically.

            Meanwhile on Derse, Prospit’s far away opposing kingdom, another pair of baskets were being presented to the Black Queen. These baskets held infants much like Prospit’s, only with light hair, almost white instead of black, wrapped in purple instead of gold. The Black queen was confused.

            “ _These_ are ‘the Two’?” she asked, dubiously. “These strange, little squishy infants?”

            “I believe so.” Her advisor repeated. “There _are_ two of them—”

            “I can see that.” The Queen cut him off coldly. Her advisor blinked nervously.

            “And the time is right for the arrival.” He continued.

            The Queen considered this, unhappy by this turn of events. She hadn’t known what to expect from The Prophesy, but surely it wasn’t soft little meat bags.

            She turned her gaze to the baskets with mild disgust as the little ones stirred and woke together. The little boy scrunched his eyelids together in spite of the lack of light. Being as far as it was from Skaia, there was never very much light on Derse. Yet still, he put his hands over his eyes as if they hurt. The little girl, meanwhile, gazed back at the queen calmly, the look in her orchard eyes appearing more intelligent than possible for someone so young.

            The Queen turned to her advisor. “Have someone visit Prospit, to see if the other queen has received her own little bundles of squish.” She ordered him. Her advisor set off to do this, but he was stopped when someone crashed into him in the hall.

            It was a messenger, by the looks of him. Who quickly got up, muttering about something he had to tell the queen. “The Prophesy. Have to tell the queen, right away . . .”

            The White Queen received a visit from a messenger as well, and both quickly traveled to center of the moons of their respective planet-kingdoms, where the temples of the prophets kept the ancient prophesy safe from those who might try to destroy it. Not that anyone had ever tried. But their jobs were so small already, so safekeeping had been tacked on as well.

Both queens saw the words that had been engraved on the enormous stone tablets since the beginning of the existence of everything they knew:

_After the universe is centuries old_

_Two will be sent to purple and gold._

But now, more words were slowly appearing beneath these lines, being chiseled by some invisible hand. It wasn’t long after they had arrived that it stopped as quickly as it had begun. The prophets of both Prospit and Derse were all beside themselves. More to The Great Prophesy? How exciting! Could there be even more, I wonder?

The White Queen simply read the new lines and stared in awe. Perhaps there could be hope for the great struggle after all.

The Black Queen read the new lines as well. The first couple of lines sounded quite in her favor, but the ones after certainly did not.

Both of the queens decided to hold meetings their prophets, to discuss what the new lines might mean, and what actions, if any, should be taken. On Prospit, it was decided that the little ones were very special, and would have towers built for each of them, as it was the only place that there was much room for construction, and they would be given special care.

On Derse, the Black queen was asking the prophets why exactly she could not just kill the little rodents.

“If they are a threat, then they need to be exterminated.” She said. But in the end, the prophets convinced her to keep the children alive. So she had two towers built for them far off on the moon, where she wouldn’t bother her, and arranged for a staff of poor suckers to care for the little brats. She began making plans, to try to help this turn out to be favorable. If she got lucky, maybe they would get themselves killed before they caused any trouble. With even more luck, they would actually be useful.

            Although they would grow up treated like royalty, not one of those four children would ever suspect how truly special or important they were.

Part One—Just Another Birthday

 

“Come on, Jade, let’s go!” John said, shaking his sister to try to wake her. He couldn’t believe anyone could sleep in a place like Prospit, where everything in it was so bright. But here was its princess, asleep like it was nobody’s business. It probably helped that the curtains of her oversized bed had been drawn to keep most of the light out.

Though her eyes were still closed, Jade started to swat at her brother.

“Okay, okay, I’m awake,” she said blearily, rubbing her eyes with her other hand.

“Nope. Not gonna be happy until you’re out of bed.” John floated so that he was hovering over Jade’s bed and let himself fall down near her, causing Jade to be bounced right into the air. Luckily, she caught herself by floating like John. She lowered herself to stand on the floor so she could get her glasses off the bedside table.

“Gosh, what’s your hurry today?” She asked him, slightly annoyed. Not that she was really all that angry. John was one of her best friends. The only other human she had ever known, and vice versa.

“No way.” John said in awe, staring at Jade. “You didn’t _forget_ , did you? You remember everything!”

Jade’s eyes suddenly widened in realization and she gasped, “No! Of course not! How could I forget my own brother’s thirteenth birthday?”

Neither John nor Jade knew how they knew when their birthdays were. Prospit didn’t really have a system to measure the passing of time, past a few hours at least. They didn’t know why they thought a lot of the things they thought. For instance, even though they knew that they had arrived in Prospit as babies on the same day, they believed their birthdays to be at completely different times of the year. They had celebrated Jade’s birthday more than four ‘months’ ago, in the middle of ‘winter.’

John laughed. “I knew you wouldn’t forget,” he said triumphantly. Then his face fell a little. “This doesn’t mean—”

“John.” Jade said tiredly. “We go over this twice a year, every year. I know this doesn’t mean you’re younger than me. We are twins, who celebrate our birthdays at different times of the year.”

John’s expression brightened a little, and he looked sheepish. “Yeah, I know, I’m being dumb. It’s just nice to hear you say it.”

Jade sighed, but smiled at her brother. She floated over to him and ruffled his hair playfully. “Then I guess I won’t mind telling you now and then. Now, what would you like to do for your birthday?”

“You mean between now and my party? Geeze, I don’t know . . .” John thought about it. Then, an idea began to form in his head.

“Maybe . . . we could go.” He said, not sure if he should really be saying what he was thinking.

Jade waited for him to finish his sentence. When he didn’t, she asked, “Go where?”

“I don’t know. But—we hardly ever leave the moon, and we’ve never left Prospit before . . . maybe today, we could—”

“John!” Jade scolded her brother, staring at him with wide eyes. She couldn’t believe he was suggesting such a thing. “You know we aren’t supposed to leave, it’s dangerous! Outside of Prospit, who knows what could be out there, wanting to hurt us?”

“Yeah, I know, but we’re older now. Teenagers, practically grown-ups, we can totally handle ourselves.”

"I don’t think I would call thirteen ‘practically grown up.’ We still need a lot of training until we’re ready to go off on our own.”

 John’s face fell. “Okay. I just thought, since it’s my birthday and all . . .”

Jade felt bad, hating to see her brother so disheartened. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m just scared. I don’t want anything to happen to us. To you.”

“No, its okay, you’re right. We should stay where we’re safe until were really ready.” John brightened a little then. “Maybe we could have fun going around, pulling some pranks?”

Jade smiled. “As long as we don’t cause anyone too much trouble, sure.”

“Yesssss!” John exclaimed, pumping his fists in the air. “Come on, let’s go get my stuff!”

And with that, John bolted out the tower window, fast as the wind. Jade giggled. Instead of trying to catch up, she closed her curtains. She knew he wouldn’t wait for her, and he would be back soon enough. Instead she used John’s absence to change out of her pajamas and into a presentable, but simple golden dress.

As Jade finished getting changed, she heard John calling her from outside her window. She opened her curtain again and flew off to play with her brother.

 

Rose had been sitting at her desk, writing in one of her numerous journals when she suddenly sensed she was being watched. Without letting her feeling of alarm show on her face, she quietly snapped the notebook shut and looked to the window of her tower; Nothing. Quickly to the other one; ah, just the barest hint of movement. She gracefully floated over and looked to the ground. She had caught him.

“Dave.” She called emotionlessly, but loud enough for him to hear her. He was trying to make his sneaky getaway by hugging the part of the tower that had no windows as he descended.

Dave stopped and looked up to his sister, realizing he had been caught. If he was upset by this, it didn’t show on his face as he ascended again.

“What were you doing?” Rose asked when he was close enough to hear her without needing to shout.

Dave shrugged almost imperceptibly. “Doing my job as an annoying brother: spying on my sister. Not really for any reason, just bored.”

“I thought you had lessons today.”

Dave’s face twitched so subtly, no one but his one sister would have realized he had winced, probably wishing that she hadn’t made it her business to memorize his schedule. Neither the prince nor princess of Derse’s moon had ever been very outgoing, even when they were young. Dave was even harder to read because of the dark glasses he always wore. After just one day of him never taking his hands off his eyes as an infant, his caretakers were fed up and gave him baby-sized shades to wear. He only ever took them off to exchange them with a larger pair when the old ones were outgrown.

“Yeah, but I’m skipping it ‘cause it’s all stupid royal training bullshit: etiquette and proper decorum. That shit’s never going to be useful, you gotta agree with me on this one.”

“I’m afraid I don’t.” Rose said. She stepped away from the window to straighten her room while they spoke. “I am the princess of Derse’s moon, and you are its prince. Even though the king and queen have lived and ruled for the entirety of its existence, our royal titles imply that we will be the ones to rule if they should die. For some reason, this makes me feel that I should be prepaid if and when that time comes.”

While she was straightening her things, Rose’s cat came out of hiding. She had found the pure black kitten a couple years ago, hiding in her room. He seemed like such a sweet little fellow, and without any collar, Rose guessed he was a stray. So she took him in and named him Jaspers. She wasn’t sure where the name came from, but it had felt right. Rose scratched his chin while she listened to her brother complain.

“Oh come on,” Dave said. He floated higher and set himself sitting on Rose’s window sill. “They’ll be around forever, and we’ll end up being the ones who die, after a long life of not being important to anything or anyone. Except each other, I guess.”

“The citizens of the moon seem to think we’re important. Even if we don’t _really_ rule them, haven’t we anyway?”

“Yeah, but how long is this going to last? She’s going to find out eventually, and I don’t think she’s going to be too thrilled about the two kids she can’t stand working behind her back.” He ran a hand part-way through his hair. “I can’t believe I ever let you talk me into it.”

He wasn’t far off. The Black Queen certainly _did_ seem to dislike them. Much less than ever invite them to her home, they had been forbidden to come anywhere near her, and encouraged by their staff to just remain on the moon. They had no idea why a woman who cared so little about them had given them such important roles.

“Would you prefer we give up on Derse completely? Let the Queen deal with these pawns instead of us?” Rose asked casually.

“I don’t know. No, I guess? It’s just . . .” He wasn’t sure what to say. He might not admit it out loud, but he cared about Derse. It had been his lifelong home, after all. And a lot of its people were nicer than you might expect for a place called the Dark Kingdom.

“I just think, like, there isn’t a point to trying sometimes.” He said finally. “We’re just kids. What difference are we really ever going to make? We can’t try to make big changes without blowing our cover.”

“Well, we aren’t going to be kids forever.” Rose pointed out. “Maybe someday we’ll be the ones sitting in that castle, calling the shots. Who knows? The decisions we make and actions we take could lead to something more important than either of us could imagine.”

Dave remained silent, and Rose didn’t even bother to sigh. She was used to her brother’s attitude by now. He really didn’t like the whole ‘being a prince’ thing. He never really said as much, but she had trained herself to be skilled at reading people, as a hobby. From what he _did_ say, she concluded that he would have much preferred to be just a normal kid, in a place where there were tons of people like them. A place where he could earn his own title, instead of having to live up to the one that was thrust upon him when he could barely hold up his own head.

Whenever she had tried to say something to him about this, he just told her how dumb she sounded, and to stop trying psychoanalyzing him, because it wasn’t going to work. This made her feel pretty sure that she had him pegged.

Dave couldn’t take the silence between them any longer. He had to get out of there.

“You know what? You seem to really want me to go to the dumb class. And maybe I will, but if I do, it’s only because I just remembered I have combat training, and _that_ is actually fun. And useful!” He floated out of the window and headed back to his own tower for his lesson. But before getting too far, he remembered something and went back to Rose’s window. She had just sat back down to her desk.

“Hey, you want to hang out at my place later?” He asked her. “I have a couple new tracks, they’re so great, it would be a crime to keep them to myself.”

“I would like that,” Rose said. “But aren’t you forgetting something?”

Dave stared blankly at her for a few moments until her remembered.

“Damn it.” he said, his irritation showing on what little could be seen of his face. “We have an audience tonight, don’t we?”

“Yep.”

“Fuck. Well, I guess I’ll be seeing you later anyway then.”

“Mhm. Now, off to class with you.” She turned back to her notebook, and Dave left her again. But he had been lying before. He wasn’t scheduled for combat training. He was going because he thought it would please his sister.

 

 

“Haha, oh man, that was _classic!_ ” John laughed, hiding from the Prospit lady he had just pranked with Jade behind a chimney. She probably suspected the prankster prince—everyone on the moon was aware of his antics—but he and Jade weren’t about to let themselves get caught.

“Yes, that was pretty funny,” Jade told him. Pranks weren’t really her thing, but she was glad to see her brother having fun.

“Hey, you wanna try?” John asked her.

“Me? Oh, John, you know I’m not good at this stuff . . . I wouldn’t even know what kind of prank to pull . . .”

“Oh come on, I’ve been trying to get you into this stuff for years, you have to have picked _something_ up from me. Just pick someone and think of a way to prank them.”

“Oh, alright. I guess I can try.” Together they looked to see if their last victim had left; he had, and they relaxed and came out of hiding, and floated higher to get a bird’s-eye view.

Jade took her time choosing someone to prank. John kept asking when she was just going to pick someone and prank them.

“Come on,” He said, drawing out the second word in a very un-prince-like whine. “How hard can it be?”

“Easy for you to say.” Jade said absentmindedly. John started to say something else, but she held up her hand. “I think I’ve got someone.”

Jade carefully floated down to the street below, behind a prospit man with a very ornate hat, detailed, fancy and tall. Jade decided to take the opportunity to practice working her magic. As she followed behind him in mid-air, she reached her hands out toward the hat and concentrated . . . and it slowly began to shrink before her eyes.

Jade’s abilities with manipulating space were still a pretty new thing. She and John had only discovered a few years ago by accident. Ever since then, she had been trying to learn how to control it. So shrinking the man’s hat was not only a successful prank, but also a test she had passed. Jade was so pleased, she lost her focus and the hat snapped and was double the size it was originally and fell over the man’s head.

Jade was so startled and scared of being caught, she flew away, back up to where she had left John; Who, now, could barely hold himself in the air because he was laughing so much.

“Oh man! I ha-hate to admit it, but, but that was hilarious!” He said between breaths.

Jade got over her panic then and giggled along with him. “Hehe, yeah, I guess it was.”

John wiped the tears out of his eyes and sobered up. “That was really good, by the way, with the spacey stuff. Not just because of that great pranksters gambit you got yourself, there, I mean.”

Jade shrugged. She remembered how she lost control and she was disappointed in herself. “Yeah, but I still got a lot to work on before I have firm handle on it.” It sounded like John had made a choked sound; Jade looked over to see him biting his lip and looking interestedly at something in the distance. And also like he was hiding a smile, not that Jade thought she had said anything to amuse him. He coughed and changed the subject.

“Well!” John said, putting his hands on his sides. “I guess there’s only one way I’m going to be able to top you now.”

“Ooh, you aren’t thinking what I think you’re thinking, are you?”

“You bet I’m thinking what you think I’m thinking.” he said, scouting for a group he could target.

“Just be careful,” Jade said, trying to hide her smile. She wasn’t sure if this was a good idea, but it sounded like an amusing prospect. “After what happened the time before the last. . .”

John winced. “Aw, come on, that was months ago, are you ever going to let me forget that? Can we not even go into it again?”

Jade giggled. “I’ll try to forget it ever happened.” She promised him.

“Thank you. Now,” John said to himself.” Let’s see if I can stir-up a little harmless mayhem.” He concentrated, focusing hard on maintaining just the right amount of pressure . . .

Suddenly on the street below, those walking in it could feel the wind pick up to a completely unnatural speed. Not enough to knock (most) people off their feet, but plenty enough to blow things out of their hands, and in some cases into their faces. Possessions flew around in small tornados all around the length of the large lane that John had singled out to use his windy thing on.

John snickered to himself as he watched, pleased with his handiwork. Jade probably would have enjoyed seeing the delight in his eyes, despite the havoc that had caused it.

“And _that_ , my dear sister, is how the pranking _master_ gets the best of an entire street at once.” John turned around triumphantly . . . but his cheerfulness instantly became dread as he saw that Jade was no longer with him. He looked down to find what he had expected: Jade’s limp form plummeting toward the pointy, spire-covered rooftops of the moon.

“Jade,” John breathed as he took off after her, willing himself to move faster to catch up with her, not realizing he was unconsciously using the wind the push himself forward even faster feeling almost helpless as he watched his sister fall . . .

He caught her by the waist when she had been yards away from being skewered.  Jade woke up almost instantly, jarred by the sudden stop.

“Wha-what?” She said, blinking, twisting her head around and trying to make sense of what had happened.

“You fell asleep again, I think.” John told her weakly, his relief palpable. He pulled his arms away as Jade started floating under her own power again.

“Oh my god,” She said, the reality of what just happened setting in. “I can’t believe it happened _again._ ” Jade tried to smack herself on the forehead, but her shock caused it to be a gentle blow.

Jade had always had a problem with falling asleep at inconvenient times. They had asked the royal physician about it when they were young, but he’d never heard of something so strange. He briefly tried to get Jade back to his office for study, but a quick word to the queen put a stop to it.

Usually it wasn’t a big deal, her knocking out randomly, as long as John was around.

“It’s not your fault Jade, you can’t help it. It’s my fault. I’m sorry.” John said quickly, his words colored vividly with remorse. “I shouldn’t have taken my eyes off you, just to play a dumb prank.”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Jade said, taking his hand. “I’m okay, thanks to you.”

“Yeah, but it was so close!” John said, pulling his hand away to throw it in the air with the other. “You could have died.” His voice cracked on the last word. They might have laughed over the obvious sign of aging, on his birthday no less, if it hadn’t also been caused by emotion.

“Well I _didn’t._ ” Jade insisted gently. “Today must not be the day Fate wants me to die.” Pretty much all of Prospit were big believers in fate, the idea that everything happened for a reason. It was only natural for their prince and princess to believe this, too. John was finally comforted.

“Let’s hope that _that_ day if very far away. Come on,” He said. “I’m starving; let’s go find something to eat.” He took Jade’s hand, not wanting to invite another accident today, and they headed off in search of lunch.

 

 

Diplomacy was a key factor, Dave’s instructors always told him, in being a prince. Yes, he would need to be equipped with abilities to defend himself, but it was much more vital for him to learn to play his political role as well as he could.

Dave sighed silently while his instructor, an older looking Dersite man—how Dave was able to see this in the guy’s uniformity was a mystery—had his back turned. God _damn_ this was boring.

“Pardon me, sir,” He almost didn’t say, but reminded himself to don the mask of formality and politeness he used when he in front of anyone except Rose. No need for the guy to go squealing to his etiquette instructor. “But I sort of thought I understood the basics well enough to not have to sit through these lessons anymore.” The mask was starting to slip. He forced himself to stay emotionless. What better way to prove his point? “Why am I still being scheduled for them?” Hadn’t he participated in hundreds of audiences with Rose already? He had done fine all those times.

“Well, your highness—” Dave’s eye twitched behind his shades, but he didn’t say anything about being addressed so formally. It would have just been weird to be called by just his name by anyone but Rose.

Rose seemed to be the exception for a lot of things with Dave.

“It seems that you have some dependency issues to work on. You do just fine in my lessons, but at every audience held by you and your sister, the princess always takes the lead, while you hang back and allow her to do so. As I have observed, you almost never take the incentive to even speak up most of the time, unless it is to make a joke.”

Dave considered this briefly, letting his eyes wander freely with his thoughts. He realized his instructor was right. Not that he really cared. As Rose had guessed, he wasn’t happy with the role he was adopted into, and if Rose _was_ fine with it and willing to pick up his slack, what did it matter? But the diplomacy instructor was continuing his lecture.

“The reason this concerns me, is because I feel that you should not have to rely on Princess Rose. What if something ever happened to her, hmm? If she fell ill or . . . worse.”

It wasn’t a possibility that Dave liked to think about. Or do anything about, really. He would have preferred to just ignore it, pretend to think that both he and his sister were untouchable. But growing up on Derse, it was difficult not to be a realistic person.

Dave and Rose had been thirteen for a few months now. They were teenagers, and in just a few years they would be adults, even if they were already expected to act like ones. He sighed internally, deciding on a whim that maybe it was time to start doing just that.

“I understand.” He told his instructor, being careful to word his thoughts in a way that was acceptable and expected of someone of his rank. “And I admit that you are correct about my past performance and I believe your concern is also . . . rightfully placed.” He wasn’t sure if he worded that right, but oh well. “You have my word that I will take my responsibilities more seriously from now on.”

His instructor seemed pleased, probably having expected an argument. He went on with his lesson and Dave honestly did his best to pay attention.

Rose found him later that afternoon in combat training yard, practicing his sword fighting on a dummy that was held upright by an iron cross: His reward to himself for being responsible.

 _He does handle the sword quite well, doesn’t he?_ She thought to herself as she lowed herself to the ground to walk the last few yards between them, admiring his skillful maneuvers with pride. He always had, really. She joked now and then that he was more of a knight than a prince.

Just as she was about to approach him, his sword must have hit the metal just the wrong way; almost half of the blade snapped clean off.

Rose hadn’t made a sound, but Dave seemed to sense her presence. He glanced over his shoulder at her without saying hello, then down to his ruined weapon.

“These shitty things they keep here are always breaking,” He muttered in complaint. He focused on what was left on it . . . and suddenly it was fixed again. At a young age, he figured out her could do this, manipulate time in small ways, like rewinding this incredibly shitty sword to a minute ago when it wasn’t broken. He’d asked Rose if she could do it too, but she said she couldn’t. She’d never shown any signs of having any kind of abilities. Dave had never been quite sure if he felt this made him special, or a freak.

“I hope I haven’t interrupted you,” Rose said.

“Not really.” Dave had already been practicing for couple hours and his need to dispose of excess energy had been met. He tossed his practice weapon in the direction of the armory shed, taking one of the few advantages of being a prince he enjoyed: letting other people clean up after him.

He turned to Rose, who had her arms crossed and was giving him a very disapproving look.

“What?” He asked defensively.

“That’s very impolite of you.”

“Yeah, well, I’m the God damn Prince of the Moon; I shouldn’t have to clean up after myself.” He retorted, in a rare moment of haughtiness. He tried walking past her, but she stopped him with a tug on his sleeve. When he looked at her, she just raised her eyebrows.

Dave sighed and went back to put away the sword properly. “I thought you’re supposed to be my sister, not my _mother_ ,” He muttered.

“Happy?” He called to her when his simple chore was done. He picked himself up to hover over the ground so he could move more quickly. Rose did the same and they floated off together.

“You really need to learn to use a real weapon at some point, you know. Instead of that useless little stick you keep insisting is a wand.”

“It _is_ a wand, and I’m determined to learn what the Gods have to teach me.” Her hand went absentmindedly to her hip, where she kept the item in question.

Dave made a face while she wasn’t looking. “Seriously Ro, I’ve been trying to tell you for years now: those . . _. things_ aren’t gods. I don’t know what the hell they are, but you should try a little harder to stay away from them.”

Rose heard her brother’s concern, but she ignored it. He had shunned the strange beings that tried to contact them in their dreams, hadn’t heard them like she had. Those creatures that she and Dave met in their sleep, gods or not, were in trouble, and trying to reach out to her. How could she ignore someone, something, that needed her help?

“I’ll see what I can do,” She said evasively, and changed the subject.


	2. Part Two-Public Gatherings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Later that same day, it's come time for John's party, and Dave and Rose's audience with some of the inhabitants of Derse's moon. ((Plot actually starts to happen this time))

Jade suddenly felt a little ridiculous, later that day. While she was tending her neat but dirty garden, she suddenly became aware of what she was wearing.

She was all dressed up in a formal gown—which was various shades of gold of course—with a skirt that consisted of so many layers of silk that it belled out a bit, with puffy sleeves, and no edge was without lace or other trimming. Her hair was held back with small pins so that it stayed in an elegant waterfall of black waves down the center of her back. All topped off with her tiara . . . she giggled quietly to herself, imagining how she must look in this outfit while walking in the midst of all of this earth and vegetation.

It was all for John’s Birthday Ball that evening, but it had taken less time than she thought it would to get ready. So she had gone up to the greenhouse on top of her tower to kill some time.

As she walked through the rows of flowers and vegetables with her little watering can, she reached out now and then to stroke a leaf or touch a petal. She felt a wave of pride wash over her. Not so much in herself as in her sweet little plants, for being strong enough to grow. And okay, in herself as well.

It was a bit of a mystery, actually, how anything survived in there. As light as Prospit was with all of its gilt, Skaia didn’t come around more than a few days a week. Nonetheless, everything Jade grew seemed to thrive.

“Jade?”

She turned around, and smiled at John, who was floating his way over. He was all dressed up, too. His outfit was much nicer than his simple tunic and matching linin pants of that afternoon. His pants were of heavier material, and embroidered up the sides to match the doublet he wore over his dress shirt. A short cape finished off the ensemble.

“There you are,” He said, readjusting the mostly-simple circlet of gold on his head. It only had a few stones in it; Blue, probably sapphire or something, to match his eyes.

Suddenly, Jade realized how late it must be, if John had come looking for her.

“Oh, is it time already?” She asked, drifting towards her little toolshed.

“Yup. You’re forgetful today,” John teased.

“I haven’t forgotten anything, thank you very much,” she reminded him while she put away her watering can.

“Ah, common, I can’t wait any longer!” John said. He unconsciously bounced up and down in mid-air and Jade laughed.

“Okay, birthday boy, cool your jets. Or should I say calm your winds.” Jade said as they took off toward the castle. Actually, now that Jade thought about it, it _was_ a little windy.

John noticed to and smiled' it stopped soon after.

“Party time!” He shouted enthusiastically.

“Party time!” Jade shouted back in agreement.

 

 

It had been almost too easy to acquire a location where pawns of Derse’s moon could have and audience with its prince and princess. And it was, almost too conveniently, a very appropriate place for such proceedings: A smallish building, one floor that was mostly just one room. A large room that could house a large crowd, which was tastefully, but lavishly decorated with rugs and wall hangings and other needless trifles.

Across the hall from this main room was another room that was furnished much more modestly. A few couches, a couple tables. It was used as a waiting room, since that was what Dave and Rose did in there, waited until it was time to begin. Dave used the private entrance and found Rose already there, using a large mirror to touch up her black lipstick.

Rose caught site of his reflection, and turned to give him her usual soft smile.   
“You look nice,” she complimented him.

“Damn straight I look nice.” Dave might have returned the sentiment, had he felt more complementary. The long, narrow skirt of her dress suited her. And the high collar might have looked silly on anyone else, Rose pulled it off well.

“But I think you’ve forgotten something.” Rose crossed the room, taking a bundle of purple silk off an end table and unwrapping it so her brother could see.

Dave groaned quietly.

“Not the crown, please.”

“It’s called a circlet, I’ve explained to you before.” Rose said patiently, walking over to him. She placed it on his head, and he didn’t protest. The silver of it complimented all of the purple, but the handful of red stones almost clashed. Not that style was the biggest reason for Dave’s aversion to the item.

“It’s still a crown.” He muttered, feeling just a little bit more rediculous. Rose smiled patently, already wearing her own tiara, featuring violet colored stones that fit in well with everything around them.

It suddenly occurred to Dave, in a brief and rare fit of envy, that there was almost something symbolic about the stones in the crowns, which matched their eyes.

“I think it’s time to begin.” Rose said. Dave sighed and nodded once, reminding himself of the promise he had made that afternoon. He would try.

Rose looked expectantly at him, holding her hand out toward him. Despite his resolve, he still thought this was a little overkill.

“Always with the formalities.” He complained as he offered his elbow to her.

“I like the formalities,” she countered pleasantly, for her, as she took it.

Together, they exited the waiting room. Two burly Dersite men saw them and one knocked on the double-doors they were guarding. The hum of conversation inside died down as the sound of a trumpet began. That was their cue.

The two bouncers opened the doors for them and the trumpet continues to sound as they made their grand entrance. The room full of pawns in watched them as they walked together down the long carpet to the two identical and ornate chairs at the other side of the room. Thrones, if anyone was being honest. They were even placed on a dais.

They separated at the last moment and took their seats.

Rose opened her mouth to begin, but Dave beat her to the punch.

“Princess Rose and I would like to extend our gratitude to all of you here.” He repeated the introductory speech Rose always used to start these things. He tried not to feel self-conscious of the wide-eyed stares he was getting.

“We agree that it is very brave of you to attend this audience of ours.” Truly brave indeed, for all of these people to risk being caught and probably killed if the queen ever found out.

“For those of you who have not come here before, I’ll briefly explain: My sister and I are here to listen to any troubles you may be having—” Behind the shades, his eye twitched. ‘Troubles you may be having?’ He felt like such an idiot, but went on without pause. “And in turn, we will promise to do all that is in our power to help.”

Dave decided that’s all he could stomach for the moment. He looked at Rose and gestured for her to continue. It took her a moment to recover from her surprise at her brother’s sudden effort to be so involved.

But she did, quickly enough that the pause wasn’t long enough to be uncomfortable. And she and Dave both listened to their people and, for once, equally participated in their obligations.

 

“Welcome, esteemed guests, to our Prince John’s thirteenth birthday ball,” the White Queen announced from her place above the crowd, which burst into applause.

John and Jade stood at her sides, all three of them, and a few others, at the top of the grand staircase.

“I’m sure you are all eager so me to stop postponing your good time, especially our guest of honor—” she paused to glance at John, who’s grin widened. “So I shall do my best to keep this brief.

“I merely want to say how proud I am of our prince. He could probably do well to hold back on the tricks,” The Queen noted slyly, and John felt his face warm as his smile turned sheepish. “But overall, I have gathered that he is a very _good_ young man, who is full of promise, and who I believe will go great things someday.”

John’s face reddened further. He was pretty touched. The Queen had never hidden her fondness for either him or his sister, but she had never said anything like this before.

“I’m sure our prince has a few more words to say, so please bear with us a little longer.” She turned to him, smiling calmly. “John?”

John recovered, and turned to the watching crowd.

“Ahm. Yes, only a few things I wanted to say. First, thank you all again for coming. It’s not a ball without guests! And second, please, enjoy yourselves as much as you can. I would like this to be a night to remember for a long time!”

The small orchestra positioned to the side of the enormous golden ballroom took this as their cue, and began playing. Joyful music filled the air and all of the little white figures on the dance floor began to twirl.

The White Queen started descending the stairs to join the festivity. Jade immediately turned to John and curtsied.

“Would his highness do me the honor of sharing the first dance of the evening with me?” She asked, being overly formal. John laughed and bowed, playing along.

“Oh, but Princess Jade, you should know I always save the first dance for you.”

“Well then,” Jade said, offering her hand, “Let’s dance!”

John took her hand and they hurried down the stairs.

And soon, they were twirling with the rest of the attendees to the cheerful song, graceful and elegant after so much practice.

And even if they had not been the only ones in the room dressed in gold in a sea of white, John and Jade would have stood out. They deviated from the more traditional steps, throwing in some of their own. The rest of the dancers gave them a wide berth, some of them stopping to watch.

After this first dance, they were separated. Everyone wanted to dance with the Prince and Princess. After several more dances with various pawns and other more substantial pieces, they  found each other again along the buffet that dominated the opposite end of the ball room as the grand stairway and adjoining balcony where this evening had begun.

Jade snuck up behind her brother, who was standing at one of the far ends, staying away from the deserts.

“Aren’t you going to have any of your cake, John?” She teased him, causing him to jump. He turned around to face her.

“Oh, uh, sure. A little piece.” He hedged. “Maybe later. I don’t want to spoil my dinner, or something.”

Jade giggled. John was so weird sometimes. She couldn’t understand his aversion to sugar, why too much made him sick. But she wasn’t going to force it on him, since it did.

Jade wasn’t really hungry yet, so she turned and watched the dance floor while she waited for him to finish picking at the appetizers. As she watched the dancers, close by and across the room, she felt very happy. Content with every good thing life had given her. A safe home, a community full of friends that felt more like family, and the best brother anyone could have.

The orchestra, which had been playing a slower song, picked up the tempo again. At almost the same time, she felt a presence next to her.

“Oh man, we so need to dance to this,” John said.

“Well what are we waiting for?” Jade asked, grinning widely. And then they were back on the dance floor, twirling once more.

John and Jade were laughing and having a ball at the ball, and at the same moment, far away, Dave was politely watching Rose while she responded to a pawn that had asked some question he wouldn’t remember later.

In the span of just one moment everything changed.

Suddenly, everything was colorful. Where there had been white, there was now pastel-tones of pink and blue, green and yellow. Where there had been black and grey, there was now bolder, brasher versions of the same colors. Pawns and pieces everywhere were now adorned in stripes and polka dots and funny shaped hats. It was all very incredible and unexpected.

Neither princes nor princesses even noticed.

Because during that same moment, without warning, Rose had went silent mid-sentence and slumped in her seat; John’s smile had faded and he collapsed.

“Rose?” Dave said, reaching to touch his sister’s hand.

“John?” Jade said, doing her best to hold her brother up.

Neither Rose nor John responded.

The prince and princess that were still standing quickly started to panic.

“Rose!” Dave yelled, incredulous. He tried to shake Rose, get her to wake up, but she wasn’t moving.

“John!” Jade shouted, just as scared and bewildered. What had happened?

Dave tore his eyes away from his sister to yell at their audience. His act of careful coolness had been completely chucked out the window now.

“What’s wrong with all of you? Someone go get help!” Why weren’t they doing anything? They were just standing there, gawking at each other like idiots. Dave noted their changes but found it to be much less important than whatever had happened to Rose.

“Fine,” he spat at them. He picked Rose up out of her seat and headed for the nearest exit. “If none of you are going to do anything to help your own princess, I guess it’s up to me.” He flew as quickly as he could with his burden to find the royal physician.

Jade wasn’t any calmer about dealing with John. She gritted her teeth as she carried him awkwardly back to the stairs, thanking fate that the queen was nearby. Surely she had returned to the baloney by now? She left John near the foot of the stairs before flying up them.

“Your highness, please,” She said when she neared the top, “there is something wrong with—”

The queen wasn’t there.

Jade turned to look over the crowd to search, but she couldn’t recognize anyone in their newly colored attire. Still, she raked her eyes over the large ballroom. But the White Queen was nowhere to be found. Where had she gone?

“Ahem.”

Jade turned to find a prospitain man, not much taller than herself, looking at her with something like pity.

“You are looking for the Queen, princess?” He asked. It sounded like pity, too.

“Yes, sir, do you know where she went? It’s pretty important.” She resisted twisting around to make sure John was still where she left him.

“She was called away by her advisors. I didn’t hear all of the details, but it sounds like there have been new developments in the Endless Struggle. Well, I suppose now it would be more correct to call it a war now,” he added thoughtfully.

“War?” Jade asked, momentarily distracted from her concern for her brother.

Of course she knew of the Endless Struggle. Didn’t everyone? The very strange dance the Kings of the opposing kingdoms had taken part in since the beginning of their existence. It was strange because neither side could advance more than the other, although neither side had ever stopped trying, as far as Jade knew. White would make a move to counter Black’s last, Black would move the same way for the same purpose; an endless, futile circle. Jade and John had asked their instructor, who had been the one to tell them about this when they were much younger. But he said it wasn’t his place to tell them this, that it was the White Queen’s.

“To protect Skaia, of course.” She had told them. “It’s what Our kingdom was put here to do. If we stood aside, The Dark kingdom would have Skaia destroyed.”

“But _why_ do we protect it?” John had asked. “What is it for?”

The Queen smiled down at him. “We’ve never known the exact reason. Only that it’s important, and will be needed eventually. But for the time being, neither king has ever made much headway, so it’s nothing you two need to worry about now.”

“Do you think they ever _will_ make headway,” Jade had asked, not quite knowing at the time what ‘headway’ was at the time.

The Queen’s smile was sadder when she answered this question. “Eventually, yes.”  
But that had been _years_ ago, when they were only about four or five. So long that, uncharacteristically, Jade had thought the Queen was wrong. And now, that it turned out she was right? It felt so soon. Too soon, and completely the wrong time, when John might be in serious trouble . . .

That thought brought her back to the present. She couldn’t worry about a war right now. John needed her.

“Well, thanks anyway,” she said over her shoulder, whisking herself back down the stairs. John was just as he had been left. Once again, she struggled to lift him, but she managed and carried him out to find him some help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, be honest: how easy is it to tell how new I am at this fan fiction stuff?


End file.
